My EON / Paypal Experience [Enrollment]

It’s honestly been a while since I’ve posted anything here (and I haven’t even updated my wishlist yet! Hahaha!), but I just have to blog about my experience getting a Paypal account whilst here in the Philippines.

I read up online on possible ways to maneuver this “buying things online” gig I wanted to try out, and ended up with noticing how netizens keep on mentioning how Unionbank’s EON card works pretty well, with little to no charges. It’s also a debit card, which I like in particular, seeing as how I am trying to remain credit card-free until the day I would deem it utterly necessary to get one.

DAY 0.5:

First of all, I applied for a Paypal account. As suggested by several blogs out there, I got a Personal account, especially since I was only aiming to buy stuff… For now, anyway. Just one thing I’ll comment on this: use the name you have/want to have on your card for your Paypal account. (E.g. name: April Binondo C. Domingo– you can choose to have your name on Paypal as “April Domingo” and not “April Binondo Domingo”, but make sure that’s the name you have/want to have on your card as well.) You can’t change your name on Paypal without having to go through a seemingly tedious process, you see. (I learned this only after the entire process >_> Go figure.)

I have no EON card at that time, so I researched that as well. After a few articles (all thanks to the wonders of the Internet!), I readied the materials necessary, which was essentially cash (I got out some 1k+, though probably just some 500php is necessary, to cover the EON card activation charge + initial Paypal charge), and at least 2 valid government IDs. (Not really student IDs / office IDs; more on government IDs, such as driver’s license, SSS card and the like. You can find a list on the Unionbank website.)

I then enrolled first using the EON Online Application on the Unionbank website, and got via text (in a few minutes after my registration) my referral number. I was also told which branch I should go to for my official enrollment (yeah, gotta appear there personally), so I looked over my schedule, saw some free time on a Friday, and decided to get it fixed as soon as I can muster.

DAY 1:

The branch I was to go to is a typical Mon-Fri, 9am-3pm branch, so I had little time to spare on a weekday, but I was happily enough able to find some time then. So I went to the bank, asked about, and was directed to the New Accounts section. I had to wait a bit… It seemed like there was another person before me who was getting a new EON account too. When it was my turn, they asked me for my referral number, then handed me a couple of forms. I didn’t think I had to accomplish any, since I already accomplished them online, but I guess the signature bit was pretty important xD I did as they said, handed them my IDs (driver’s license, SSS form, company ID) which they had photocopied, paid the card activation charge (350php), and happily got the card soon enough. As soon as I got it, I changed the pin in the ATM, then lined up to deposit the aforementioned money. I got this all done in about 1.5 hours.

DAY 2-4:

I was pretty excited about the whole prospect, since 1) it was my first time to enroll something at the bank on my own (LOL), and 2) I just couldn’t wait to get my Flickr pro account (woo!). The day after I enrolled, I tried to log in at the Unionbank website, and I keep getting rejected. It kinda annoyed me, so I looked over the options a bit, then found on the Login menu a “enroll your card here” text. So I did that, entered my card info, then was told that I had to wait some 2 days to access my account. (I actually didn’t mind this at first, but after a few more rejected attempts and some article-reading, I finally calmed down and decided to wait.)

After those 2 days (essentially Day 4), I was finally able to access my account, and danced a little jig as I headed on over to the Paypal website to enroll my card.

DAY 4.5:

I went on over to Paypal and excitedly added my new EON card. I had some trouble, however, as it kept on telling me that I had to verify my account with the bank or something. I also read in a blog somewhere that as soon as you enroll your card, Paypal will immediately charge you a little something, which they will return as soon as you verify your account. I haven’t seen an indication of this charge, and was getting jittery. I decided that maybe it really takes a while for the process to occur, so I took in a deep breath, exited Paypal, then went on about trying to not think about the Paypal account.

DAY 5-6:

Incessant, tiring, fearful waiting. I kept on logging into my accounts to make sure that everything was ok, but I still wasn’t getting any emails from Paypal, nor any notices from Unionbank. Sleep was intermittent, anxiety was nerve-wracking. Gah.

DAY 6.5:

I broke down and went on to review all the information I submitted to both websites. I soon figured out that my details on the EON / Unionbank website did NOT match the information I placed on the Paypal website. As a matter of fact, only details regarding my name and country were on the EON webbie profile. (I suppose I’ve been expecting that the data I submitted to Unionbank would be automatically updated.)

I finished inputting the data for the EON card soon enough, and went on to the Paypal website to see if it would finally work. Lo and behold – it did! I got an email from Paypal, who told me about the 4-digit number they sent over, just like all those blogs on the Internet said! I was so happy, haha!

I went over once more to the EON website, then took some minutes in looking for my “Transaction History”. (At the Home page, click on “Accounts”, look for the option of “Last 10 Transactions” in the drop-down menu, and hit “Go”.) My own code looked like this: VISA-PP*####CODE SG(###).

I was incredibly excited (as you might have been too, should you have finally gotten to this stage after all those days of waiting!) when I got back on the Paypal website. I clicked on “Get Verified”, entered the 4-digit code, and voila! Happiness! Paypal officially recognizes me!

Fin.

Once I did this, I actually went on Flickr, and got my Pro account soon enough 🙂 (I deposited more than necessary in the first place, so I can start using my card as soon as possible.) After that time, I would be leaving my EON account to gather in the dust for some 3-4 months… And it wouldn’t recognize me! I tried using my Paypal, and lo and behold – it didn’t work! That would make for another story, though.

First drafted: 27 Sept. 2011.